(A) If the properly identified person who owns or hold a lien on the vehicle appears at the site of storage before disposal of the vehicle and pays all costs incurred against the vehicle at that time, the vehicle shall be released.
(B) The storage yard may charge an inspection fee to an owner, lienholder or insurance company representative to inspect a vehicle or retrieve items from the vehicle. A fee under this division must be refunded, however, if all costs relating to the tow and storage of the vehicle, as well as all other allowable fees, are paid pursuant to the above division (A).
(C) The storage yard must accept payment made by any of the following means by a person seeking to release a vehicle under this section: cash, certified check or cashier’s check, insurance check, or money order.
(D) Upon receiving payment of all costs relating to a tow, the storage of a vehicle, and all allowable fees, as applicable, a towing service or storage yard shall provide to the person making payment an itemized receipt that includes the information set forth in I.C. 24-14-5, to the extent the information is known or available.
(E) A storage yard used by the city for purposes of this chapter must be open for business and accessible by telephone during regular office hours. A towing service or storage yard must provide a telephone number that is available on a 24-hour basis to receive calls and messages from callers, including calls made outside of regular office hours. All calls made to a towing service or storage yard must be returned within 24 hours from the time received. However, if adverse weather, an act of god, or an emergency situation over which the towing service or storage yard has no control prevents the towing service or storage yard from returning calls within 24 hours, the towing service or storage yard shall return all calls received as quickly as possible.
(F) A storage yard shall, if required, notify the appropriate public agency of all releases under this section. The notification must include the name and address of:
(1) The person that owns or holds a lien on the vehicle; and
(2) The insurance company that insures the vehicle, if the vehicle was released to a representative of the insurance company;
(3) The signature of the individual to whom the vehicle was released;
(4) A description of the vehicle or parts;
(5) Costs paid; and
(6) The date of release.
(Ord. 2020-1, passed 2-10-2020)